QMI Agency

A California man had to stand by while his wife and four children died in a fiery car crash after he was unable to rescue them.

The Fresno Bee reported that the crash happened south of Riverdale, Calif., on Saturday evening when the family's SUV was struck by a minivan that had blown through a stop sign.

The minivan hit the side of the family's SUV and it burst into flames, the paper reported. The father of the family was following in another vehicle saw the crash and tried to smash windows of the SUV to rescue his family.

His wife, 29, and children aged 1, 3, 6 and 11 died at the scene.

Witnesses of the crash told the Bee the flames were up to 15-feet high.